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It's not that it's offensive, per se. But a one-sided cell phone call does intrude on other people's expectation of reasonable peace and quiet (see comments on attentional selection.) It has the same effect on most people as fingernails on a chalkboard. You wouldn't sit next to someone in a quiet waiting room and suddenly start playing music at 65 decibels, would you? It's the same thing.
Personally, I'd just move away from the offender if I could. Whenever I get a phone call, unless it's less than a 10-second, "OK, good, bye" answer, I step outside or tell them I'll call them back or text. I don't WANT people listening to my phone calls! I've been known to politely ask a person on a cell phone to finish their conversation outside of the waiting room. One time at the doctor's office a few years ago, one woman yapped for 20 minutes about her urinary tract infection to a girlfriend on her cell. I mean, did we REALLY need to hear the gory details?!
I have been noticing that more and more doctor's offices have big signs stating "Absolutely NO cell phone Usage" in their waiting rooms (at least in my part of the country). These are just run of the mill every day types of doctors.
Ten years ago the only place where I noticed those signs were in hospitals and in waiting areas for psychiatrists. In one large psychiatric office that I am familiar with, whenever a staff member walking into the waiting area or the receptionist noticed someone on a phone they immediately reminded the person of the policy and politely and directly told them to hang up. The policy was firmly and quickly enforced. I assumed that it was to protect everyone's privacy.
I was recently in the hospital for a spell and everyone has cell phones hanging around their neck. So, this one instance a male nurse was trying to roll me over and check something and the cell phone went off and I grabbed it and said, "Stop calling he doesn't want to talk to you." Luckily for me he thought it was funny.
Enough of this. Cell phones were invented so people would no longer miss calls when they're away from home. It's a wonderful thing. Get over yourselves already. This isn't 1970 and phone booths are dinosaurs, if you can even find one.
If we were talking about someone talking at a booming loud voice and using dirty language etc, okay, but otherwise, oh well. Even if you supposedly interpret one-sided conversations differently, still, oh well, suck it up. The public arena is not going to be perfect and you're nit-picking on a most ridiculous level. If someone is loud, they're loud, phone or no phone, it's no different in terms of how right or wrong it is.
This guy gets next to people on cell phones and echoes their conversations. This one is at an airport -- another one is at Disney. Funny stuff, especially the look on the people's faces who are on the cell phone!
That is awesome lol!
I hate it when people carry on conversations like that. Coworkers and I have actually stopped helping customers who can't seem to pull the phone out of their ear or put it down for 2 minutes so we can take care of business. If I am on the phone and get to a cash register I will put my call on hold or I will hang up when its my turn. Its a respect thing.
Today when I was looking at shoes for my youngest, there was a lady sitting in the floor talking on the phone while her 2 older kids (we're talking 2 and maybe 5 years old) were very restless and her newborn crying and screaming. It blew my mind.
Enough of this. Cell phones were invented so people would no longer miss calls when they're away from home. It's a wonderful thing. Get over yourselves already. This isn't 1970 and phone booths are dinosaurs, if you can even find one.
If we were talking about someone talking at a booming loud voice and using dirty language etc, okay, but otherwise, oh well. Even if you supposedly interpret one-sided conversations differently, still, oh well, suck it up. The public arena is not going to be perfect and you're nit-picking on a most ridiculous level. If someone is loud, they're loud, phone or no phone, it's no different in terms of how right or wrong it is.
Who want's to hear the rant on a cell phone in a store?? Especially small stores...I don't want to hear other
peoples crap or business when buying coffee. Some things can wait until outside..i know it's not 70's anymore
but many talk in public just to feel important..
Unless it's an emergency keep it quick in public or go outside.. It's VERY annoying to say the least and most that do it can't find their way home without such device!
By my observation, people tend to speak louder in a phone conversation than in a public face-to-face conversation. Part of that is because there is less clarity in the phone conversation, as well as an inability to know whether one is being heard with whatever clarity is available. In a face-to-face conversation, the feedback from the other party helps both to modulate their level of speech.
People also tend to police their subject matter in public face-to-face conversations better. This does vary by person. A lot of people do get to a more secluded location to discuss private matters over the phone, but there are others who seem to be oblivious to the fact that they're displaying their underwear in public. I suspect that if the other party were present, they'd speak more softly or take the conversation elsewhere.
I love people who wear blue tooth ear sets and walk around shouting to the world while on the phone. It's especially great when in a store and they walk up to the aisle you are in and you think they are shouting inane crap at you. When you say "pardon me?" they look at you as if were the dumbest ass on the planet. I no longer talk to people in stores for that reason.
I was at the car dealership today and was waiting for my car to be fixed. The waiting room was fairly large, and there were about 10 people scattered throughout. Some were softly talking on their phones, others watching the tv, and I was trying to read.
A woman sat near me and began phone conversations that lasted the entire 2.5 hours I was there. She was practically yelling into her phone, and it annoyed the hell out of me. It was bad enough trying to block out the noise from the tv, but I heard way more than I wanted to from this woman. I shot her a few disapproving looks, and she toned it down for a minute or two then resumed her loud speaking voice.
If I have to take a phone call in public, I try to keep it as short and sweet as possible, and try to keep my voice down where everyone near me doesn't know my business. I hate when people carry on a conversation in public with no thought to how it may affect others. A pet peeve of mine is when the conversation is in another language, conducted at full volume, but a loud conversation in any language is annoying, and IMO rude as hell. It happens a lot, though. Is this considered socially ok??
I was totally with you until the bolded part... why does it matter what language the conversation is in? Granted, there are certain languages (I won't name them) that can be grating to our American/English ears, but otherwise I can't see why this would annoy you even MORE. I'd actually think the opposite, since at least you're not getting sucked into their drama.
Now, to those who asked "what's the difference between this and two people conversing?" As a librarian who deals with this issue constantly, I'll tell you - for some reason (bad connections?), most people talk WAY louder on a cell phone than they normally do. Our official policy is that talking must be at a reasonable volume, but if I ask someone to quiet down, they'll go right back to screaming within seconds. Also, there's just something more irritating IMO about hearing only one end of a conversation. I don't mind the back & forth of two people talking near me, but that "blah blah blah" ----- pause ----- "blah blah blah" really grates on my nerves after a while.
I'm ranting now, but for the love of all that is holy, could people at least refrain from cell phone use at the library? We don't expect complete silence these days, however, there is a limit to what we tolerate. I give those patrons one dirty look, followed by a verbal warning, then you will be asked to leave.
I love people who wear blue tooth ear sets and walk around shouting to the world while on the phone. It's especially great when in a store and they walk up to the aisle you are in and you think they are shouting inane crap at you. When you say "pardon me?" they look at you as if were the dumbest ass on the planet. I no longer talk to people in stores for that reason.
I can usually tell when it's a bluetooth, but recently I walked past a man who (so I thought) shouted something nasty at me... I snapped my head around like "EXCUSE me??" and he just kept yelling. Eventually I realized he was on a phone, but for a minute there I seriously thought we were about to rumble. And I'm a woman, btw.
Dude should have at least given a "just on the phone" hand wave, but he was so caught in that phone-bubble, I doubt he even noticed my reaction.
A lot of things in life are annoying. Welcome to life.
Humans are gonna get on your nerves. While you think something is absurd, you are probably doing something equally as absurd and don't even realize it.
The world doesn't owe you a thing. If you can't tune out someones obnoxious conversation, with a smile, then this life will only get harder for you.
For the record, I don't like talking on any kind of phone.
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